Jets Acquire Tyler Toffoli
11:41 a.m.: The trade call between the Devils and Jets is complete, per TSN’s Darren Dreger. All the details of the reported trade below are accurate.
10:27 a.m.: The Jets already made a top-six addition when they acquired Sean Monahan from Montreal last month. They’re now set to make another one as TSN’s Darren Dreger reports (Twitter link) that they are closing in on a trade with New Jersey for winger Tyler Toffoli. Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press adds (Twitter link) that the Devils are expected to receive second and third-round picks in return. The Jets don’t have their own second-round pick this year but they do have Montreal’s, a well-traveled pick that has already been involved in trades for Christian Dvorak, Sean Durzi, and Pierre-Luc Dubois so far. Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff confirms it’s a 2025 second-rounder and a 2024 third-rounder heading to New Jersey.
Toffoli was in his first season with New Jersey who acquired him from Calgary in the summer after the two sides weren’t able to agree on a contract extension. The Devils had tried to extend Toffoli as well but clearly, those talks weren’t able to yield a new deal, resulting in this trade instead over the risk of him leaving in free agency in July.
The 31-year-old was productive with the Devils, leading the team in goals with 26 through 61 games while chipping in with 18 assists as well; his goal total ties him for the Winnipeg lead with Kyle Connor. He surpassed the 30-goal mark last season for the second time in his career and appears to be well on his way toward doing so once again this year. In the playoffs, Toffoli has had some success with 44 points in 88 games, including 14 in 22 playoff appearances with the Canadiens in their run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2021. He’ll be counted on to provide some extra scoring punch on a Winnipeg team that is outside the top 20 in goals scored so far this season.
Despite being a consistent contributor offensively, Toffoli has bounced around in recent seasons. This will be the sixth team that Toffoli has played for since 2020, joining Vancouver, Los Angeles, Montreal, Calgary, and New Jersey. Barring an extension, the number may increase to seven in the coming months.
Toffoli has a $4.25MM cap hit, one that Winnipeg can work in without needing salary retention. However, if they take on the full freight of the deal, that won’t leave them with much more cap room to work with so it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Devils at least retain a portion of his contract once the deal is made official. Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports that the Devils have indeed retained half of Toffoli’s deal, making him a $2.125MM player for Winnipeg.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Penguins Likely To Move Alex Nedeljkovic, Make Several Roster Moves
The Penguins moved out Jake Guentzel last night and it appears he won’t be the only rental on the move. Rob Rossi of The Athletic reports (subscription link) that they’re likely to move goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic before the 2 PM CT deadline.
Nedeljkovic spent most of last year in the minors but has been a full-timer with Pittsburgh this season, faring relatively well in the backup role. Through 21 games so far this season, the 28-year-old has a 2.87 GAA and a .908 SV%, his best numbers since his rookie campaign back in 2020-21.
While the goalie market has had a few big names in there, talk of some of those names moving has started to die off. Instead, the goalies that move might be short-term rentals and Nedeljkovic on an expiring $1.5MM contract fits right into that category. There are playoff-bound teams that could use an upgrade at the backup goalie position and he would fit the bill so GM Kyle Dubas should be able to find a suitable return for his services.
While not consequential after the 23-player roster limit that was lifted this morning, they also cleared a roster spot by placing winger Jansen Harkins on injured reserve, per CapFriendly. The 26-year-old winger has just four points in 43 games this season and did not return to last night’s game against the Capitals after a fight.
Meanwhile, CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that forwards Valtteri Puustinen, Joona Koppanen, and Jonathan Gruden were all assigned to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Those moves were needed to get them back into salary cap compliance after losing Guentzel’s LTIR buffer in the swap yesterday. Puustinen has played in 31 games with Pittsburgh so far this season, notching 13 points and seems like a likely candidate to be recalled after the trade deadline if they have cap room. Gruden, meanwhile, has a goal in nine NHL appearances while Koppanen has been held off the scoresheet in his four contests.
Predators Acquire Jason Zucker
The Nashville Predators have acquired veteran forward Jason Zucker from the Arizona Coyotes, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Zucker was scratched in Arizona’s Thursday night game for trade-related reasons, along with defenseman Matt Dumba. The Coyotes will be receiving Dallas’ 2024 sixth-round pick in return, per The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun. Nashville acquired the pick at the 2023 draft when Dallas traded up into the third round. The deal notably comes with no salary retention. The teams later made the trade official.
Zucker is in his first year with the Coyotes, signing a one-year, $5.3MM contract with the team on July 1st. He’s since had a modest year, scoring nine goals
and 25 points in 51 games – a step down from the 27 goals and 48 points he managed in 78 games with the Pittsburgh Penguins last year. He’ll now change hands once again, joining the fourth team of his career in Nashville. While his high scoring last season seemingly came out of nowhere, with Zucker failing to even reach 20 points in the two seasons prior, his performances in Arizona have shown he can still bring a punch to the depths of a lineup, even in year 13.
Zucker joins Anthony Beauvillier as Nashville’s newest additions – with both players likely to round out the team’s third line, filling the hole left by Yakov Trenin, who was traded to the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday. The Predators also acquired flexible forward Jaret Anderson-Dolan off of waivers from the Los Angeles Kings. The new pieces will help Nashville round out a bottom-six that features just three players who have crested 20 points this season. Their presence likely forces Mark Jankowski out of the lineup, while Kiefer Sherwood and Cole Smith will now have to compete for their roles.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Rangers Acquire Chad Ruhwedel
The Rangers acquired right-shot defenseman Chad Ruhwedel from the Penguins for a 2027 fourth-round pick, per a team announcement.
Ruhwedel, 33, was an undrafted free agent signing by the Sabres in 2012 and remained in the organization as a depth option for four years until landing with Pittsburgh in free agency in 2016, where he’s remained as a bottom-pairing/press box fixture since. He logged 28 AHL games in his first campaign with the Penguins but has not been assigned to the minors on a full-time basis since, save for a five-game stint in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in 2018-19.
The San Diego native has played more than 50 games in a season just once but may do so this year with 47 already under his belt. A pending UFA with an $800K cap hit, Ruhwedel had one goal, three assists, four points and a -4 rating while logging 12:33 per game, competing for limited minutes among a crowded group of depth defenders in Pittsburgh.
Ruhwedel has had middling possession numbers with a 48.0 CF% at even strength and a 46.5 xGF%, but he’s also received some of the most taxing defensive-zone usage in the league with a 74.5 defensive zone start rate at even strength. He’s able to slot in on the penalty kill, too, where he’s averaged around two minutes per game.
It’s a solid piece of work for Rangers GM Chris Drury to add a capable penalty killer to serve as injury insurance down the stretch and in the postseason. Ruhwedel was scoreless with a -3 rating in 25 postseason games with Pittsburgh, including six games in 2017 that got his name engraved on the Stanley Cup. The Rangers still have $2.1MM in cap space ahead of the 2 p.m. CT deadline.
Ducks Acquire Ben Meyers
The Ducks have acquired forward Ben Meyers from the Avalanche in exchange for a 2024 fifth-round pick, per a team announcement. Meyers, who was on assignment to AHL Colorado, will report to the Ducks’ NHL roster.
Meyers has seen limited NHL action over the past three years, logging five games in 2021-22 after signing as an undrafted free agent, 39 games in 2022-23, and just nine games this season. The former University of Minnesota star center has spent most of this year with the Avs’ AHL squad, last suiting up for an NHL game in early January. He’s signed to a one-year, one-way deal worth $775K and had six goals and a -10 rating across 53 career games in Colorado.
The trade has no salary cap ramifications for the Avs since he was not on the active roster. This is purely a pickup of a potential mid-ceiling player who’s failed to adjust to the NHL by Anaheim, who will give Meyers some runway in their bottom six as they close out another rebuilding season. He will be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights this summer.
Panthers Acquire Kyle Okposo
After adding Vladimir Tarasenko earlier this week, the Panthers have made another addition up front. They’ve acquired winger Kyle Okposo from the Sabres in exchange for defenseman Calle Sjalin and a conditional 2024 seventh-round pick. The pick will elevate to a fifth-round selection if Florida wins the Stanley Cup.
Okposo has served as Buffalo’s captain in each of the last two seasons, a fitting reward after eight years with the club. Florida will become just the third team that Okposo has played for in his 17-year career, which kicked off when the New York Islanders selected him seventh-overall in the 2006 NHL Draft, taking him in the same top 10 that featured Erik Johnson, Jonathan Toews, and Nicklas Backstrom. Okposo would play two seasons at the University of Minnesota before making his professional debut in the 2007-08 season and playing out his rookie NHL season in 2008-09. He scored 18 goals and 39 points in 65 games as a first-year, quickly establishing the reliable, top-six impact that he’s brought throughout his entire career. Okposo has since had five seasons of 50 or more points, including a career-high 69 points scored in the 2013-14 season. In full, he’s totalled 1045 games and 614 points in the NHL.
Okposo has only entered the open market once, signing a seven-year contract with the Sabres in the summer of 2016. He’s since played through some of Buffalo’s worst seasons, experiencing four different coaches and no playoff berths with the team. But he’s stuck through it all, providing a consistent impact in all three zones that he’s sure to bring to Florida now. His departure marks the end of an era for the Sabres, with Zemgus Girgensons the last Sabre from the 2016-17 team. Okposo is slated to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, and at 35, he’ll likely begin considering his future. But with this move to Florida, he’ll first get the chance to chase a Stanley Cup – an opportunity he hasn’t had much of across his 1,000-game career.
Blue Jackets Acquire Malcolm Subban
The Blue Jackets acquired minor-league goaltender Malcolm Subban from the Blues in exchange for future consideration, the team announced. Subban, who was playing for the Blues’ AHL affiliate in Springfield, will now report directly to the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters.
Subban, 30, was a first-round pick of the Bruins back in 2012 but has now settled in as a minor-league starter. After spending the last two seasons in the Sabres organization, Subban inked a one-year, two-way deal ($775K NHL/$450K AHL) with the Blues in free agency last summer to provide short-lived competition to youngster Joel Hofer in the backup role to Jordan Binnington. He hasn’t made an NHL appearance since January 2022.
He’s been half-decent with Springfield this year, recording a .907 SV% and an 11-14-4 record in 31 games. However, he’s been outplayed by the younger Vadim Zherenko, who has an 11-7-2 record and .913 SV% in 21 games. As such, the Thunderbirds are no longer relying on him to be a bona fide AHL starter, and he’ll finish out the season as a veteran presence in Cleveland to aid in their stretch run while providing a veteran call-up option for Columbus if injuries strike Elvis Merzļikins or Daniil Tarasov in the last few weeks of the season.
Subban will be a UFA this summer. This trade will likely be completed in a separate minor-league trade, with Cleveland sending an AHL-contracted player to Springfield as compensation.
Kraken, Jordan Eberle Agree To Two-Year Extension
With Seattle selling, it was a matter of Jordan Eberle either signing an extension or being traded today. It will be the former as CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that the two sides have agreed to a two-year, $9.5MM extension. The deal contains a full no-trade clause.
The 33-year-old had been believed to be seeking a third year on this deal but instead, he winds up with a bit more than the originally reported offer of $4.5MM per year and full trade protection, something he didn’t have before; his current deal only carried a 16-team no-trade clause. Even with that, the contract represents a small dip in pay by $750K per season.
Eberle was originally picked by Seattle in the expansion draft in 2021 and has been one of their top scorers since then; he’s tied for second in franchise scoring history with defenseman Vince Dunn and behind center Jared McCann. He had one of his best outputs last season, notching 20 goals and a career-high 43 assists, giving him some leverage heading into offseason extension discussions.
However, his numbers have been down this year, as has been the case for several of Seattle’s top players. Even so, Eberle sits fourth in team scoring with 14 goals and 23 assists in 58 games while logging a little over 17 minutes a night. That type of production made him an attractive target for teams looking to bolster their secondary scoring leading into the trade deadline, especially with 76 playoff games under his belt. Instead, he’ll be staying put and staying in a top-six role for the Kraken for the next couple of years.
With the signing, Seattle has a little under $65.5MM in commitments to 16 players for next season, per CapFriendly. With Kailer Yamamoto and Eeli Tolvanen headlining their RFA list and Justin Schultz their lone higher-priced UFA of significance, GM Ron Francis looks set to have considerable cap space heading into next summer to add to his roster to try to get his team back into playoff contention.
Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek was first to report that contract talks had resumed earlier this morning.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Hurricanes Acquire Evgeny Kuznetsov
The Hurricanes have acquired center Evgeny Kuznetsov from the Capitals, per a team announcement. A 2025 third-round pick is heading back to Washington, which is retaining 50% of Kuznetsov’s $7.8MM cap hit.
Kuznetsov and the Capitals clearly wanted a fresh start after the player exited the first stage of the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program and was subsequently placed on waivers last weekend. The 31-year-old has one season remaining on the eight-year, $62.4MM deal he signed with the Caps in the summer of 2017 and has a 10-team no-trade list. The Hurricanes will owe him half of his pro-rated $6MM salary this season, a $3MM salary next year, and a $1MM signing bonus this summer thanks to Washington’s retention, and he’ll cost $3.9MM against their salary cap this year and next.
A point-per-game threat at his peak during the Capitals’ run to the championship in 2018, it’s been a rather sharp decline in production this season. He’s tallied only six goals and 17 points in 43 games this season, tallying the worst points-per-game rate of his 11-year career. He’s never been a strong defensive player, either, and that hasn’t changed with a 43.6 CF% at even strength and a 39.3 xGF%.
Nonetheless, the Hurricanes could bank on surrounding him with much better wing talent and look to utilize him in a top-six role. The team has a gaping vacancy at center on their second line behind Sebastian Aho. Both Jack Drury and Jesperi Kotkaniemi have tried and failed to hold down the spot with acceptable production from a second-line pivot on a contending team, and while Kuznetsov’s numbers haven’t been any better, he at least has the history of holding down top-six minutes on a contending team. A hypothetical trio with Martin Necas and Andrei Svechnikov (or their other big deadline splash, Jake Guentzel) is far from a shutdown line, but playing with two highly skilled wingers should help restore Kuznetsov’s production closer to his former levels.
Carolina indeed views Kuznetsov as a potential top-six piece and is expected to recall him from the minors after the trade call is completed, per Emily Kaplan of ESPN.
The Capitals, meanwhile, free up half of Kuznetsov’s remaining money to spend elsewhere over the next 15 months. His departure opens up more guaranteed ice time for youngsters Hendrix Lapierre and Connor McMichael down the middle down the stretch and into next season, too. Notably, the Capitals are now utilizing all three of their salary retention slots this season and won’t be able to execute another retained salary transaction before today’s deadline.
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet first reported the Hurricanes were trading for Kuznetsov.
Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic first reported the return and salary retention details.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports.
West Notes: Lindholm, Maroon, Dewar, Eberle, Koch
There had been some speculation that the Canucks could flip Elias Lindholm to secure assets that would be part of a Jake Guentzel trade. However, with Guentzel now in Carolina, it appears Vancouver won’t be looking to flip Lindholm after all, reports TSN’s Chris Johnston in his latest piece for The Athletic (subscription link). The 29-year-old hasn’t lit it up yet with his new team as he has just four goals and three assists in 16 games since coming over from Calgary, not the type of stretch run he was hoping for as he heads to UFA eligibility this summer for the first time.
More from the West:
- The Wild have received interest in winger Pat Maroon and center Connor Dewar, reports The Athletic’s Michael Russo (subscription link). Maroon has missed the last month with a back injury that will keep him out for a couple more weeks but as a cheap gritty, experienced bottom-six forward, it’s not a surprise that there is still interest. The pending unrestricted free agent has 16 points in 49 games so far this season. Dewar, meanwhile, is heading for restricted free agency this summer with arbitration eligibility. The 24-year-old has 10 goals in 57 games while averaging a little over 11 minutes a night and is a key part of Minnesota’s penalty kill. With the rental center market being thin, the Wild could command a decent return if they decide to move Dewar as a result.
- The Kraken and winger Jordan Eberle were discussing a two-year deal with a cap hit of $4.5MM, relays Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli. However, Eberle is believed to be seeking a third year which is the hold-up in discussions. The 33-year-old has seen his numbers dip this season but still has 14 goals and 23 assists through 58 games. The expectation is that Eberle will either be signed or traded by the 2 PM CT deadline. If it’s the latter, Seattle will almost certainly need to retain on his current $5.5MM price tag.
- The Coyotes announced (Twitter link) that they’ve assigned defenseman Patrik Koch to AHL Tucson. The 27-year-old was recalled yesterday but didn’t play. Koch is in his first season in North America and has a goal and ten assists in 47 games with the Roadrunners so far this season.